Lunajammer

People frequently wish to deny dogs their DNA when they see ones they connect with in some way. Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers are bred to fetch ducks. Nurturing and training can't deny them their hard wired irrepressible desire to fetch anything that moves and to be in water. Likewise Pit Bulls and Bull Terriers were developed over decades to fight. You can have the friendliest one on the block until one day something sets it off. When that happens they snap and no longer hear commands to stop and don't always respond to force. It's not their fault or yours. If you're ready to watch for that and know how to contain it, then you may be a good fit for it. However they make frightening pets for families.

Let's not forget the role safety has played. Part of the "parity" is because development of speed was surpassing development of safety and left unchecked it would have become a bigger blood sport than it already was. Nobody liked restrictor plates but something had to be done. Part of today's commercial success of NASCAR is reaching a safety level that made viewing accessible to an audience that was turned off by the risk; women and those concerned about the impression left on kids after deadly wrecks.

Proof again that in the hands of a capable and motivated craftsman, any sow's ear can be made into a silk purse. Mmmm, silky.

The canopy glass. Definitely brings the whole thing home for me.

Stunning!

The kids get sold on it. Just gotta sell more parents, to get them to these events. Nice work.

You guys should start a reality show. Funnier than those motorcycle dudes. But back to the topic at hand, was that '55 listed only in the modeling section? I have to agree that there will probably be more to this story.

Agreed. Built mine in the 90's. It was the white one. I don't recall any glaring fit issues, just flash, the engine seemed a little small, platform chassis and loss of detail in the scripts and mouldings. The overall body is proportional and as you can see by Bruce's pic, it looks quite nice on the shelf. Like many low parts count kits, If you don't get hung up on the finer points it's still worth having around.

Can't tell for sure but if they're 1/25 it looks like they could be off the Dodge Ram 3500 promo.

For the record... Now back to our regularly scheduled conversation about models.

I was much too far away to attend but I hold Colpar Hobbies in high regard. They were generous in being a sponsor for one or two of our Plastic on the Prairie model contests. That must've been fifteen years ago. But because of their involvement in our show, which was half way across the country from them, I still speak well of their interest in forwarding the hobby and helping the people who love it. Thanks for doing this show this Poppa.

Quite good Chuck. I like it. Everything feels right.

That's some ambitious sculpting but it looks like you're getting it right and seems to be paying off. Keep going.

Sometimes just fondling the plastic is as enjoyable as building.

Was it a kidney?

Agreed, excellent debrief. Yet I can still barely connect the dots. Someone ought to do a visual timeline.

And it sound EXACTLY like this.

What I've bought for model work... • Their little tankless air compressor. Nice. • Their 2-gal. compressor. Returned it. Out-of-your-mind, no excuse loud. • Air connectors. • Favorite buy... their el-cheapo $8 dremel. Comes with some useable bits and is low torque. Worthless for much more than model building but perfect for hobby work. • Free flashlights. Use them for accent lighting when photographing my models. • Tweezer set. • Clamps

The 1/25 AMT '57 Thunderbird is easy to build but that also means fewer parts. The chassis is platform style with wire axles, drive train and exhaust molded in. It's an old mould so there's a little flash. Proportions are nice and it's fun for customizing. Custom options have varied over the years but most kits I've seen retain a few basic custom parts like wheel choices, custom top and some trim options. Kit instructions here. The 1/24 Monogram '56 Thunderbird has more parts, more detail and no customizing options. Kit instructions here. I'm not aware of any serious fit issues from either of these that someone of your experience would trouble over.

Beautiful work, quite realistic. I'm particularly glad to see the wheel treatment. I've been wanting to see an example of clear over chrome to soften the brightness.

Cool graphics. I think the bomber style steering wheel is inspired. Since the wheels look so bladed, have you considered a some kind of careful center hub treatment? ( Dome? Lighter silver, Insignia blue e.g?)

Let's see, '59 Ford front, '60 Comet rear, VW Vanagon front windows (same thing turned backwards at the rear)... I think I'm getting a headache.

Super. That's just the tutorial I was hoping to see. Thanks for the demonstration.

I use low tack tape, which includes Tamiya tapes, as much as possible. For anything else, only 3M tapes. Using no-name tapes will be the most expensive dollar you ever saved.